The board of a St. Paul charter school appeared to signal support for its superintendent a week after the school's authorizer called for her ouster.

The Community School of Excellence board met behind closed doors this week to consider a letter from Concordia University, which oversees the charter. In the letter, Concordia argued a recent investigation's findings are grounds for dismissing school founder Mo Chang.

The report found the school claimed some federal dollars for meals students did not consume and at times discouraged employees from reporting suspected child abuse.

Board Chair Patti Hessling said the board is writing a response to Concordia in tandem with an attorney to outline its position. She would say only that the board is not taking action to remove Chang at this time. But she also shared a note she wrote to Chang on Friday saying, "Please stay the course and continue to provide an excellent education to our fine scholars."

The Community School of Excellence serves more than 950 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

The state Department of Education demanded the outside investigation at the school after receiving complaints from current and former employees. It has since pressed Concordia to take decisive steps to ensure problems did not reoccur.

School leaders have said they have taken steps to fix the issues the investigation documented.

An authorizer cannot force a charter school's board to dismiss an administrator. In extreme cases, the authorizer could pull the school's charter, effectively putting it out of business.